Inna lillahi wa ina illahi ra'jiun

Today was the first time I went out wearing a tudung. Reason being : I wanted to try it out, I've been reading the Quran everyday for the whole month and have been thinking about turning over a new leaf. And I also wanted to go to an Islamic bookstore in Bangi to get myself a new Quran because mine is (according to my neighbor who's teaching me how to read) an older version.

After buka and maghrib prayers, me and Asrul headed over to Times Square because I wanted to treat him to a movie. The Expendables. I know how much he's wanted to watch that movie, even before it was released. We arrived at Times Square around 9.45 pm and got the 10 pm movie, which was perfect timing. When I was paying for the movie, I admitted I bragged a bit. I held my purse open and said "Banyaknye duit I". I just received my RA payment of rm160 and my dad gave me rm100 this morning before he left for Terengganu and I still had the rm50 my mom gave me for my chores last week. At the time, I had spent around rm30 for buka plus toll expenditures and rm22 for movie tickets and rm12 for popcorn and drinks. When I entered that movie hall, I had (give or take) around rm246 in my purse.

When I said "Banyaknye duit I", I had no intention of bragging at all. Asrul even said "Berlagak eh u" and at the time, it crossed my mind that perhaps, God will punish me for my arrogance but I brushed it away almost as soon as it entered my head. When I said what I said, I was actually in awe. I don't know why. It isn't unusual for me to lug around hundreds of ringgit in my purse but I haven't done so since I graduated and my parents stopped giving me pocket money and so, I was quite amazed at the amount of cash I had. And if I'm honest, I'd say there was a feeling in me that said "it's too good to be true".

We sat at the very back row. Seat A24 and A25. As usual, I placed my huge handbag right next to my foot, between him and me. I always place my handbag next to my foot but I make sure my foot is always touching it so I know it's there.

The movie was awesome. We were probably just 30mins into it when I had this disturbing feeling about my bag. Tak senang hati. So I picked it up and checked my phone. Usually, when I have this sort of feeling, it's because someone's calling me but I'm not picking up. I checked my phone. No missed calls. I had a feeling I had to place my phone in my pants pocket, just in case my parents called. But I ignored that feeling and placed it back into my bag and next to my foot. About 10mins later, I was still feeling unsettled. I picked up my bag again and was surprised to find it unzipped. My first thought was "Omg, did my eyeliner fall out?" I've lost 2 MAC eyeliners through my own carelessness of forgetting to zip up my bag.

My eyeliner was still there. I looked around on the floor and found my lip balm. I poked Asrul in the ribs and told him my bag was unzipped and asked him to check if there was anything on the floor. He looked around, even felt under the seat but there was nothing. So I zipped my bag and placed it next to my foot again.

Not 10mins later, I was still feeling unsure of myself. Something kept bugging me to check my purse that was in my handbag. And so, I reached, once more, for my bag. It was still unzipped. This time, I panicked a bit. I checked my purse. The latch was undone. I looked inside but all my things were there. I felt for the side pocket where I kept my cash.

It was empty. I couldn't believe it so I checked again. Perhaps my hand slipped under the cash. It was dark but when I looked, I was pretty sure my purse was empty of money. I looked again to make sure I was looking at the right pocket.

The money was really gone.

I shook Asrul. "Mana duit I???" He was surprised and checked it for me. While we were checking, someone emerged from behind our seat and ran for the exit that was right next to us. I was shocked beyond words. It was only when the door was closing that the reality hit me.

I've been robbed.

Asrul ran out the back door but he was gone. All I ever saw was a black shadow moving towards the door. I was so shocked, I couldn't believe what was happening.

We ran around the back stairs, me screaming at him and him screaming back at me.

"Kenapa u tak kejar dia?!"

"Selipar I putus la u, I nak kejar macam mana?!"

"U dah nampak dia dah, kenapa you tak kejar!!"

We were running up and down the emergency stairs, opening unlocked fire escapes, trying to find the bastard, all the while in a heated argument ourselves. It was hell. There were so many exits. Some led to storerooms, some led to back alleys. He could have easily escaped or hid somewhere.

In despair, we gave up after about 15mins of running up and down those stairs, opening doors that led nowhere. And then we got a bit lost trying to find our way back to the movie hall. When we did find our way back, I entered the hall in tears and he was shouting and cursing at GSC. Everyone was staring but no one offered any help or even asked us what was wrong. We left the hall screaming for the guy to stop, for one thing. And I'm pretty sure the couple seated next to us could hear what was going on.

Thank you, friendly Malaysians. Thanks for nothing.

We headed over to the GSC management, me ready to tear someone into pieces for leaving the back doors unguarded, and Asrul trying to hold me back and calm me down.

Long story short, no one wanted to claim responsibility. GSC brought us to the security office where they wanted us to file a report but when I asked what the report was for, they simply said it was "for feedback" and nothing much would be done. I didn't want to waste my time writing my heart out on a piece of paper that would then be stuffed far far away in some file in a long forgotten office but Asrul wrote and signed the report. I was crying and hyperventilating and couldn't sit still and wasn't going to listen to what anyone told me.

Can you believe that the GSC manager said that there's a sign at the movie entrance that clearly stated patrons were supposed to take care of their belongings and they claim no responsibility to lost or stolen property? And the security guards (the ones who can speak Malay la kan) said that I could lodge a police report and "kalau polis ambil serious case ni" then I can bring my report here and view the CCTVs.

No one helped us. When Asrul asked what action would they take, they answered some corporate crap that I can't even remember now. This is the attitude of people these days. If it didn't happen to them, they don't give a damn about other people's hardship. The stupid GSC manager even scoffed at me and mocked me about the emergency exits.

I am refraining from cursing in this post because I will mention Allah SWT here.

When I was running around the fire escape stairwell, all I could think of was,"Why is this happening to me? Why has Allah forsaken me? Haven't I been good lately? Haven't I prayed everyday for bad things not to befall me and the ones I love?"

Now that I have calmed down, I see now that I was wrong. If bad things never happened to good people, then we will never learn from life. I accept anything He chooses me to go through and I will be patient. He has not forsaken me for I am alive and well and all that I have lost is material things that are replaceable.

And hasn't He said to us that when disaster comes, however big or small, those who say "inna lillahi wa ina illahi ra'jiun" (Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return) and those who prevail in patience when tested are the ones who will prosper. It is He who gives and it is He who takes away.

I have surely failed this test of His. I cried and I screamed and I blamed just about everyone.

I am writing this post after just coming home from this ordeal. I am still traumatized and keep on replaying it all in my head. Everything that could have prevented it from happening. What if we had picked a different seat? What if I had held my bag in my lap? What if I had acted fast enough as soon as I discovered my bag was unzipped the first time? What if I had heeded my gut feelings and placed my phone in my pocket? What if I didn't step on Asrul's flops and broke it at the beginning of the movie so he could have run faster and caught the thief? What if I hadn't bragged about how much money I had?

There is nothing left to be done. My parents weren't upset when I called them, they were just concerned about me getting home safe and my dad said my money and hand phone can be replaced but that didn't erase the events of the day.

I will now go take a shower and stay up all night reading the Quran until I can't read and my eyes can't see and then I will pray for consequences for the thieving bastard, consequences both in the present and in the afterlife.

I hope he gets hit by a bus so that Allah SWT can deal with him.